His Robot Girlfriend (18 page)

When he came down from the observation area,
he saw a small sign indicating that the remainder of the car was
occupied by “the Boutique”. He stepped inside, expecting to find a
clothing shop, but instead found that it was a tiny jewelry store.
The robot clerk looked as though she could have been the sister of
the waiter… or waiters. She seemed only too happy to help Mike
select some overpriced piece of gold or silver. And he did select
one. He was suddenly cognizant of the fact that he had not until
now purchased Patience a wedding ring, but right there in the case
was one that seemed perfect for her. It was yellow gold on the
inside and platinum on the outside with three streaks of yellow
gold partially wrapping around it, following three small diamonds
that seemed to be orbiting like comets. It was beautiful, and had a
kind of roboty quality.

“
Fourteen karat, two-tone,”
said the clerk. “Total diamond weight is point zero nine
karats.”

“
How much is
it?”

“
Two thousand forty five
dollars.”

“
I’ll take it.”

There was only one more stop, at
Philadelphia, before the last leg of the trip that would take them
into Boston. They had lunch and high tea on the train, then packed
up their things and were ready to debark promptly when the train
pulled into Robert Gould Shaw Station at 4:47PM. By the time they
had arrived by taxi at the Westin Copely, checked in, and made
their way to their room, it was almost eight. Mike was
exhausted.

Early the next morning, Mike got up,
showered, shaved, and dressed in his twill jacket and matching
pleated pants with a tan shirt and mustard colored tie. Patience
put on a little straight, sleeveless white dress that reached to
her mid-thigh. It was accessorized only with a sky blue belt and a
little blue flower pinned along the edge of its scoop neck. On the
top of her head she wore a little white spray of flowers.

The plan had been to get up and walk the
short distance to the new municipal building, but during the night
Boston had experienced its first snowfall in four years. Though the
streets were clear, several inches of accumulation covered the
sidewalks. So they took a cab. The city was a white fluffy
wonderland

Mike expected to see quite a line of people
and robots at the license bureau. He imagined himself standing
between a little nerdy guy with an Amazon robot and the little old
lady with orange hair and Andre. As it turned out, Patience was the
only robot there that morning. Of the three other couples waiting,
all were human beings. They had to wait about fifteen minutes for
the office to open, and then the four couples were issued their
licenses in the order of their arrival. Two of the couples then
left, apparently having their weddings elsewhere, while Mike,
Patience, and the other couple waited for the Justice of the
Peace.

The other couple was a man and woman a bit
younger than Mike, if appearance didn’t lie. The man was pretty
nondescript, though the woman was quite attractive. They were in
and out of the Justice’s office in ten minutes. Then it was Mike’s
and Patience’s turn. They stood before a young woman who looked far
too young to be a judge or anything of the sort and a young man who
worked as her clerk.

“
You may place the ring on
her finger,” said the Justice. Patience smiled as Mike retrieved
the ring he had purchased on the train from his pocket. “Do you
take this um… person as your lawfully wedded partner, to have and
to hold, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, from
this day foreword, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall
live?”

“
I do,” said
Mike.

The Justice turned to Patience.

“
Do you take this person…
this man as your lawfully wedded partner, to have and to hold, for
richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, from this day
foreword, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall
live?”

Patience smiled. “I will be anything and
everything he wants me to be.”

The End

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wesley Allison (seen here with Cissy the
Iguana) lives in Henderson, Nevada with his wife Victoria, daughter
Rebecca, and his son John. He has taught English and History at B.
Mahlon Brown Junior High School for fifteen years. His Robot
Girlfriend is his fifth novel.

Visit http://amathar.blogspot.com for the
latest information on books by Wesley Allison.

Books by Wesley Allison

Princess of Amathar

His Robot Girlfriend

Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Elven Princess

Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Sorceress

Senta and the Steel Dragon Book 0:
Brechalon

Transported to the mysterious artificial
world of Ecos, Earth man Alexander Ashton struggles to understand
the society of his new friends the Amatharians. As he does so, he
finds himself falling in love with their princess and being thrust
into a millennium-long war with their mortal foes the reptilian
Zoasians. Princess of Amathar is a sword-swinging novel of high
adventure, in the spirit of Edgar Rice Burroughs, spanning a world
filled with fantastic alien civilizations, strange creatures, and
bold heroes.